1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to lettering templates and, more particularly, to a writing guide facilitating the generation of uppercase and for lowercase letters.
2. History of the Prior Art
Penmanship is an integral part of education necessary for proper communication of ideas both in teaching and in learning. Unfortunately, little academic emphasis is given to penmanship and proper stylistic forms of lettering following elementary educational levels. For this reason it is imperative that basic penmanship skills be developed at a very early age. Since proper penmanship requires the ability to form both upper and lowercase letters within a predefined space in a stylistic manner, templates and related slotted printing devices are often used. These devices assist in the formation of individual letters in various manners.
The prior art is replete with devices for assisting individuals in lettering. These devices include both preformed letter templates as well as apertures adapted for facilitating formation of the vertical, horizontal and angulated portions of various letters. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,872 issued to Mayo sets forth and shows a writing template adapted for facilitating the formation of various letters of the alphabet with a pencil, pen or similar writing instrument. While useful in the creation of capital letters, such templates do not afford the writer access to the region beneath the lettering slot for lower case letters having depending portions, to wit: y, g, j, q and p. Other prior art devices include those set forth and shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 672,087 to Williams, et al., 523,906 to Rush and 2,016,985 to Carlson which also teach penmanship devices adapted for enhancing writing skills.
The utilization of a generally rectangular slot for facilitating printing of upper and lower case letters has been used for many years. The correct formation of a letter such that the top and bottom portions of adjacent letters are each co-planar is a well known, desirable aspect. For this reason conventional school notebook paper contains a plurality of parallel lines adapted for facilitating writing thereon. In elementary school grades the lines generally include an upper and lower case marking to allow the student to generate the lower portion of those letters of the alphabet having a depending section. Slotted templates while providing assistance in establishing proper letter height and spacing, inhibit the creation of such lower case letters. For this reason such slotted members are often not used due to the need for speed and efficiency in the writing process. The devices of the prior art while assisting students in penmanship are limiting in their ability to assist in the generation of the aforesaid lower case letters. As stated above, this "inability" often becomes the deciding factor in not using such templates. The failure to utilize a template in early educational phases often leads to nonuniform letter formation and sloppy penmanship. It would thus be an advantage to provide a lettering guide which accommodates the formation of the five lower case letters of the alphabet necessitating room for forming the depending portion thereof.
The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a slotted lettering template having a window formed therein with a rectilinearly movable member disposed thereacross. The movable member contains a slotted portion facilitating upper and lower case lettering and may be depressed for allowing the generation of the depending region of the five lower case letters. Spring actuation means and an integral guidance mechanism maintains the parallel relationship of the template upon the writing paper disposed therebeneath. In this manner, proper penmanship skills are taught while affording the generation of all twenty-six letters of the alphabet in both upper and lower case forms.